Minute Gres Form (06/97)

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; United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois

7,
eof Assigned Judge i Sitting Judge if Other
Mager assines Judge Milton I. Shadur than Assigned Judge
CASE NUMBER 01 C529 DATE 1/29/2001
CASE Victory Packaging vs. Jackson Moving Services
TITLE
[in the following box (a) indicate the party filing the motion, ¢.g., plaintiff, defendant, 3rd party plaintiff, and (b) state briefly the nature
MOTION: of the motion being presented.]
DOCKET ENTRY:
qd) o Filed motion of [ use listing in “Motion” box above.]
(2) a Brief in support of motion due
(3) Oo Answer brief to motion due. . Reply to answer brief due
(4) ao Ruling/Hearing on set for at
(5) oO Status hearing[held/continued to} [set for/re-set for] on set for at
(6) oO Pretrial conference[held/continued to] [set for/re-set for] on set for at :
(7) ia) Trial[set for/re-set for] on at
(8) Oo [Bench/Jury trial] [Hearing] held/continued to at
(9) Oo This case is dismissed [with/without] prejudice and without costs[by/agreement/pursuant to]
OOFRCP4(m) OGeneral Rule21 OFRCP4i (a(t) O FRCP41(a)(2).
ao) +o [Other docket entry] | Enter Memorandum Opinion and Order. Victory has plainly turned to Defeat
in its duty to establish diversity of citizenship between the litigants, a precondition to its entering the
federal courthouse door. As stated at the outset, the absence of established diversity constitutes a lack of
subject matter jurisdiction, and both the Complaint and this action are dismissed.
(11) ff [For further detail see order attached to the original minute order.]
No notices required, advised in open court.
No notices required.
wo | Notices mailed by judge’s staff,
Notified counsel by telephone.
Docketing to mail notices.
av | Mail AO 450 form.
Copy to judge/magistrate judge. ®
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
VICTORY PACKAGING,
Plaintiff,
ve. No. 01 C 529

JACKSON MOVING SERVICES, L.L.C.,
etc.,

Defendant.

PARVETED

JAN 3-0 2001
Victory Packaging (“Victory”) has instituted this action

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

against Jackson Moving Services, L.L.c. (“Jackson") , seeking to
invoke federal jurisdiction on diversity grounds under 28 U.S.C.
§1332.* Because Victory’s effort to do so is fundamentally
flawed, this Court sua sponte dismisses the Complaint and this
action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

There is no question that Victory’s counsel is familiar with
the jurisdictional requirements for corporate. parties: Complaint
41 properly identifies both facets of Victory’s corporate
citizenship under Section 1332(c) (1). But it is equally obvious
that the Complaint has come up short as to Jackson: Complaint 41
identifies only the Illinois location of its principal office and
place of business.

That would of course be insufficient under Section

1332(c) (1) even if Jackson were a corporation. But it is not--it

* All further references to Title 28's provisions will

simply take the form “Section--.



is identified as an L.L.C. (a limited liability company). And as
to such juridical entities Cosqrove v. Bartolotta, 150 F.3d 729,
731 (7 Cir. 1998) (case citations omitted) teaches:

This animal is like a limited partnership; the
principal difference is that it need have no equivalent
to a general partner, that is, an owner who has
unlimited personal liability for the debts of the firm.
See generally Larry E. Ribstein & Robert R. Keatinge,
Ribstein and Keatinge on Limited Liability Companies
(1998). Given the resemblance between an LLC and a
limited partnership, and what seems to have crystal -
lized as a principle that members of associations are
citizens for diversity purposes unless Congress

“provides otherwise (as it has with respect to
corporations, in 28 U.S.C. §1332(c) (1)), we conclude
that the citizenship of an LLC for purposes of the
diversity jurisdiction is the citizenship of its
members .?

Hence Victory has plainly turned to Defeat in its duty to
establish diversity of citizenship between the litigants, a
precondition to its _ entering the federal courthouse door. As
stated at the outset, the absence of established diversity
constitutes a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and both the
Complaint and this action are dismissed.

Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge

Date: January 29, 2001

# [Footnote by this Court] That conclusion of course also
makes irrelevant the location of Jackson’s principal place of
business, which is part of the jurisdictional matrix only as to
corporations.